As Real Madrid prepare to face Atalanta in the Champions League, Casa Blanca legend Sami Khedira has made a curious revelation about Florentino Perez.
When Mesut Özil left Real Madrid, even the stars of the dressing room could not hide their dismay. The transfer, decided under family pressure, left a bitter taste in the mouths of his team-mates. It was the summer of 2013. José Mourinho had just left Real Madrid, making way for Carlo Ancelotti.
Mesut Özil, the midfield magician, was starting the pre-season under the new Transalpine coach. A few weeks later, however, he was sold to Arsenal. It was a decision that shocked the entire dressing room, as Sami Khedira reveals in an interview with Marca. ‘When Mesut left, we all said to Florentino Pérez: Why have you already sold him?‘ The incomprehension was total, not only for him, but also for senior players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos.
🗣️ "El día que Özil se fue, todos le decíamos a Florentino: '¡pero por qué lo vendes!' Benzema, Cristiano, Ramos… Özil era un absoluto genio, un mago de verdad. No he visto nunca un jugador con esa clase y esa calidad, de verdad"
— BeSoccer (@besoccer_ES) December 10, 2024
Khedira, en una entrevista a 'Marca' pic.twitter.com/ngrMwQlT4Y
Sami Khedira is full of praise for his former team-mate. For him, the 2014 World Cup winner is a magician with the ball, an absolute genius who made a huge contribution to Real Madrid and above all to the German national team. ‘He was an absolute genius, a real magician. Even an ill-adjusted pass became perfect at his feet. I’ve never seen such class and quality in a player,’ he added. Özil has had a huge impact on Real Madrid’s play. An outstanding playmaker, he combined exceptional vision with pinpoint accuracy. The Santiago Bernabéu adored him, and the fans saw in him a successor to Zidane.
Real Madrid ‘destroyed’ the rest of Mesut Özil’s career
Despite his success at Arsenal and his key role in Germany’s 2014 World Cup victory, Özil never reached the heights promised by his talent. After leaving Real Madrid, the German midfielder remained consistent and sometimes intermittent and never made the step up to become a legend like a certain Luka Modric or Andrés Iniesta. ‘He had the potential to win a Ballon d’Or,’ says Khedira.
In any case, Özil’s departure has not only deprived Real Madrid of an exceptional player, it has also changed the course of his career. The player himself later admitted as much. ‘He told me it was a big mistake to leave Madrid. Here, he had everything: the support of the Bernabeu and a team that played for him,’ Özil admitted to Samir Khedira a few years ago. For the former Bianconeri man, Özil was not just a talented player. ‘He played like Zidane. Look at their videos side by side and you’ll see the same elegance, the same controls,’ he concluded. But unlike his idol, the No10 did not make the kind of mark on the history of Real Madrid that he might have done.
What is certain is that the transfer of Mesut Özil will remain one of the most controversial decisions of the Florentino Pérez era. And for some Real Madrid fans, the question remains: what would have happened if Özil had stayed in the white shirt?
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